The 1979Book of Common Prayer[note 1] is the official primaryliturgical book of the U.S.-basedEpiscopal Church. An edition in the same tradition as other versions of theBook of Common Prayer used by the churches within theAnglican Communion andAnglicanism generally, it contains both the forms of theEucharistic liturgy and theDaily Office, as well as additional publicliturgies and personal devotions. It is the fourth major revision of theBook of Common Prayer adopted by the Episcopal Church, and succeeded the1928 edition.[1] The 1979Book of Common Prayer has been translated into multiple languages and is considered a representative production of the 20th-centuryLiturgical Movement.[2][3]: 6 [4]: 4
Following theEnglish Reformation and the separation of theChurch of England from theCatholic Church, theliturgies ofAnglicanism were transcribed intoEnglish. The first such production was the1549Book of Common Prayer, traditionally considered to be work ofThomas Cranmer, which replaced both themissals andbreviaries of Catholic usage.[5] Among these liturgies were theCommunion service andcanonical hours ofMatins andEvensong, with the addition of the Ordinal containing the form for the consecration ofbishops,priests, anddeacons in 1550.[6] UnderEdward VI, the1552Book of Common Prayer incorporated more radicallyProtestant reforms,[7]: 11 a process that continued with 1559 edition approved underElizabeth I. The1559 edition was for some time the second-most diffuse book inEngland, behind only theBible, through anact of Parliament that mandated its presence in eachparish church across the country.[8]
Prior to the consecration ofSamuel Seabury by theEpiscopal Church of Scotland as the firstAmerican Anglican bishop to not accept theEnglish Crown and the establishment of the independentEpiscopal Church after theAmerican Revolutionary War, the Church of England had operated in what would become the United States using the liturgies as defined in the1662Book of Common Prayer.[9]Pennsylvanian Episcopal priestsWilliam Smith andWilliam White created the first widely used American edition of the prayer book in 1786 as a "proposed" text based on the 1662 prayer book.[10][11] A further revision with a greater departure from the English 1662 edition was approved for regular usage by the newly established Episcopal Church in 1789. Notably, theEucharistic prayers of this approved edition included a similarEpiclesis invoking theHoly Spirit as that present inEastern Christian rituals and the Episcopal Church of Scotland's liturgy.[7]: 12 Proposals to remove theNicene andAthanasian Creeds faced successful objections from both a caucus ofHigh ChurchVirginians and English bishops who had been consulted on the prayer book's production.[12]
Revisions of the 1789Book of Common Prayer, known as "Standard Editions",[note 2] were promulgated by theGeneral Convention in 1793, 1822, 1832, 1838, 1845, and 1871 with notes regarding changes.[14] It is from 1789 edition that the 1979Book of Common Prayer derives two introductory texts: "The Ratification of The Book of Common Prayer (1789)" and the preface.[7]: 21 [15]: 8–11
The 1789 edition would be replaced in 1892 by a new edition of the prayer book considered a "conservative" revision of its predecessor.[16] The 1892Book of Common Prayer was the first American prayer book to have a standard edition made which further printings were to be compared against and inserted rubrical emphasis on offering Communion to all present.[17]: 71 [18] Among the alterations were several derived from edits in a draft liturgy produced by the Scottish Episcopal Church in 1889.[19]: 94 The limited scope of the revision resulted in only a comparatively brief usage of the 1892 edition, with work commencing in 1913 on what would ultimately result in the1928 edition.[17]: 65
Following a more than decade-long process of revision, the 1928Book of Common Prayer was adopted. Besides altering the language as to sound more contemporary, the 1928 edition also omitted the office for the visitation of prisoners (introduced in the 1789 edition[20]) as well as other components deemed outdated.[21] The revision also sought to eschew perceived "medieval" and "pagan" qualities, such as reference toGod's anger, as well as altering prayers to remove "extremeCalvinism."[18][17]: 64 The then-Custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer John Wallace Suter lauded the 1928 for its "new flexibility" and considered it as a text to be used continuously through the life of both the laity and clergy.[17]: 65
TheSecond Vatican Council and the Catholic Church's adoption of theMass in thevernacular as standard during the process ofaggiornamento represented a significant high point in the influence of theLiturgical Movement, a loose effort to improveChristian worship practices acrossdenominational lines.[7] Previous to that, in 1959, theAnglican Church of Canada had proposed a new edition of theBook of Common Prayer that was formally adopted by theirGeneral Synod as the1962 prayer book.[22] Such events were considered by the leadership of the Episcopal Church as reflective of a need for new prayer book revision.[23]: 194
Even prior to these developments, early proponents of the Liturgical Movement within Episcopal Church had laid the groundwork for revision. Among them wereWilliam Palmer Ladd,Massey H. Shepherd,Edward L. Parsons, and Bayard Hale Jones. Parsons and Jones, after publishing the influential historyThe American Prayer Book in 1937, served on the Episcopal Church's Standing Liturgical Commission.[24] This commission produced a series of publications called Prayer Book Studies, reviewing key elements of prayer book history and production.[25] Within their 1950 study onbaptism,confirmation, and thelectionary, the commission criticized the "abrupt conclusion" to the 1928 prayer book's revision process and lamented that there had not been opportunity to incorporate elements from the Church of England's1928 English proposed prayer book and the Scottish Episcopal Church's1929Scottish Prayer Book. The commission also stated that, despite these criticisms, it did not propose "any immediate revision."[26]: v–vi
Within the Prayer Book Studies program, several liturgies were developed, including two increments of the Holy Eucharist liturgy in 1953 and 1966.[19][27]The New Liturgy, also published in 1966, closely mirrored the Communion office in that year'sPrayer Book Studies XVII. It featured the deletion of theFilioque from theNicene Creed, a move that would remain in the prayer book proposals through 1976.[28]
At the 1967 General Convention, the Standing Liturgical Commission submitted a new Eucharistic liturgy which was approved and published for trial use asThe Liturgy of the Lord's Supper. A broader revision was approved at the 1970 General Convention, including a new lectionary and forms for the Daily Office and ordinations, as theServices for Trial Use–known as the "Green Book" for its cover. Further revision resulted in theAuthorized Services 1973–known as the "Zebra Book", also for its cover.[29] The Zebra Book included the same pattern of parallel traditional-language and contemporary-language forms for certain prayers and rites.[30]: 88–89
The proposals with multiple options for the same offices drew complaints that the new productions were "no longer a book of common prayer but of common services."Urban T. Holmes III, a prominent Episcopal priest, contended that the liturgists developing the 1979 prayer book had to respond to a theological crisis that saw them draw on liturgies from before the 1549 prayer book while making a more 20th-century theological statement.[31]: 551–552
The 1976 General Convention approved the usage of a proposed new revision of theBook of Common Prayer by a wide margin.[32]: 172 It was also at this General Convention that theordination of women was approved within the Episcopal Church.[33][34] This new prayer book,The Proposed Book of Common Prayer, included a preceding "certificate" from Custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer Charles Mortimer Guillbert dated to January 1977 that described the text as "a revision of The Book of Common Prayer (1928)" and approved its usage backdated to theFirst Sunday of Advent, 1976, through a period of three years.[35]The Proposed Book of Common Prayer was adopted by the 1979 General Convention inDenver as the official liturgy of the Episcopal Church.[29][36]
Article X of theConstitutions and Canons of the Episcopal Church provides that "The Book of Common Prayer, as now established or hereafter amended by the authority of this Church, shall be in use in all theDioceses of this Church."[13]: 9 The Canon 3 of Title II of theConstitutions and Canons established that this prayer book is that adopted in 1979.[13]: 63 In 2000, the General Convention passed a resolution apologizing to those who "were offended or alienated by inappropriate or uncharitable behavior during the time of transition to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer." The resolution specifiedNative Americans as especially adversely impacted by the revision process.[37]
Episcopal Church canon law requires the production of a Standard Edition copy from which the Custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer is to compare all printings of approved editions of theBook of Common Prayer for certification. Such books were extravagantly bound in the cases of the 1892 and 1928 editions. However, while aprospectus was published advertising additional copies bound to the specifications of the Standard Edition to be purchased by the general public, both these and the Standard Edition itself were never produced. The prospectus lists that up 275 copies of the 1979 Standard Edition could be produced, with the price set at $2,000.[38][39][40]: 464 Despite this, all copies of the 1979 prayer book bear a certification stating that each edition "has been compared with a certified copy of the Standard Book, as the Canon directs, and that it conforms thereto," followed by the name of the custodian at date of print.[15]
Besides prayers, offices, and devotions, the 1979 prayer book includes a number of supplementary texts and essays. These include the certification from the Custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer, the 1789 prayer book's "Ratification" and preface, acatechism, and explanatory essays preceding certain offices. Additionally, the "Historical Documents of the Church" section contains theChalcedonian creed on Christ's natures, theAthanasian Creed, the preface to the 1549 prayer book, and the 1801 American version of theArticles of Religion.[15]
The 1979 edition of theBook of Common Prayer was intended to contain all the regular public liturgies used within the Episcopal Church, with only limited additional variety permitted by specific exemptions.[41]: 151 It features two forms for the Holy Eucharist and for Morning and Evening Prayer. The Rite I services keep most of the language of the 1928 edition and older books, while Rite II uses contemporary language and offers a mixture of newly composed texts.[42] Some Rite II prayers were adapted from the older forms, and some borrowed from other sources, notably theByzantine Rite.[43]: 325 The majority of Episcopal parishes have adopted Rite II services as their standard.[7]: 18
In the context of the newly introduced Proper Liturgies for Special Days and other offices rendered exclusively in contemporary language, the essay "Concerning the Service of the Church" provides permissions to conform them to Rite I language in the contexts of those services. The essay also notes that allBiblical quotation within the prayer book–except the Psalms–are from theRevised Standard Version translation.[15]: 14
The Holy Eucharist liturgy of the 1979 prayer book is also entitled "The Liturgy for the Proclamation of the Word of God and Celebration of the Holy Communion" and is considered "the principal act of worship on theLord's Day and other majorFeasts" on theEpiscopal calendar.[44] Within the Episcopal Church, all persons baptized in theTrinitarian formula are permitted to receive theEucharist.[13]: 59
The Rite I Holy Eucharistic liturgy contains two Eucharistic prayers, while the Rite II liturgy contains four: A, B, C, and D.[45] The usage of a given Eucharistic prayer during specificliturgical seasons is not defined by the 1979 prayer book, but it is common for the Rite I liturgy to be used duringLent.[46] Eucharistic prayer C of Rite II is often called the "Star Wars" and "Star Trek prayer" for its reference to "vast expanses of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile Earth, our island home."[47][48] The primary editor of the 1979 prayer book, Howard E. Galley, Jr., is credited with authoring Eucharistic prayer C.[49]
Within the Rite I form, provisions are made for the repetition of one of four selection of Scripture sentences, known as “comfortable words." Additionally, theAgnus Dei andPrayer of Humble Access may be said.[42] The 1979 prayer book's version of the Prayer of Humble Access is altered from the 1548 original version, omitting the line "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed by his most precious blood."[50]
Thecollects–short devotional prayers for particular feasts–for Holy Communion services are rearranged from prior prayer book versions but retain many of the translations produced by Cranmer.[51]
The first section of prayers, immediately following thekalendar, is theDaily Office. The Daily Office utilizes a division of thePsalms in which all 150 are read each month during complete recitation, keeping with Cranmerite practices initiated in the 1549 prayer book.[7]: 65 The 1979 prayer book introduced two additional liturgies to Episcopal Daily Office:An Order of Worship for the Evening (also known by theLatin namelucernarium) andCompline.[7]: 73–75 [43]: 324 [52]
Like other editions of theBook of Common Prayer, the 1979 edition contains each Psalm present in the Bible. In preparing the 1979 prayer book, new translations of the Psalms were executed, with the translations placing an emphasis on theirpoetic qualities alongside their liturgical importance;[53]: 25 the "Concerning the Psalter" essay within the 1979 prayer book refers to the Psalter as "a body of liturgical poetry."[15]: 582 These translations utilize "Hallelujah" transliterated fromHebrew in preference over the English translation "Praise the Lord" and Latin transliteration "Alleluia."[15]: 584
TheBurial of the Dead is presented with both a Rite I and Rite II option.[42] The minimalist An Order for Burial is used "when, for pastoral considerations, neither of the burial rites in this Book is deemed appropriate."[15]: 506 The 1979 prayer book's rubrics, drawing from early Christian practices, encourage the baptismal liturgy to be performed alongside Holy Communion on major feasts so that it might be a more public event.[7]: 30–32
All Episcopal Church congregations are to use the 1979 prayer book for worship. The integral options, such as the Rite I and Rite II Holy Eucharists and "open-ended" marriage and burial offices, are described as offering "unity in the midst of diversity".[54]
Anglo-catholic Episcopalians such as members of theSociety of the Holy Cross would welcome the addition of certain prayers brought by the 1979 prayer book, particularly the Proper Liturgies for Special Days andprayers for the dead.[3]: 6 [55] In 1991, theChurch of the Good Shepherd, an Anglo-catholic parish inRosemont, Pennsylvania, published theAnglican Service Book as a "traditional language adaptation of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer." Besides offering the Rite I services of the 1979 prayer book, it also rendered into traditional language those prayers previously only offered in contemporary language. The Psalter is that of the 1928 prayer book.[3]: 7
Many traditionalists, both Anglo-Catholics andevangelicals, felt alienated by the theological and ritual changes made in the 1979 prayer book, and resisted or looked elsewhere for models of liturgy.[32]: 173 Among the grievances were emphasis on contemporaneous qualities, which some contended resulted in "a loss of dignity and beauty in the language of worship."[55] Accordingly, some Episcopal parishes continue to use the 1928 prayer book for their liturgies.[56][57] The 1979 General Convention that approved the new prayer book also voted to give bishops the ability to grant permission for parishes to use the 1928 prayer book on the grounds that "this action in no way sanctions the existence of two authorized Books of Common Prayer or diminishes the authority of the official liturgy of this Church" and that the 1979 lectionary would be used.[36] The permissions were further defined at the 2000 General Convention, placing them in the same category of other approved supplemental liturgical resources.[58][59]
Groups in the then-nascentContinuing Anglican movement, such as theAnglican Catholic Church, opposed the introduction of the 1979 prayer book. While not members of the Episcopal Church andAnglican Communion, some of these churches still use the 1928 prayer book of the Episcopal Church alongside other liturgical texts such as the American version of theAnglican Missal. Among the Continuing Anglican criticisms of the 1979 prayer book is the rarity ofad orientem celebration.[60] Some Continuing Anglican denominations founded after the introduction of the 1979 prayer book have cited it, alongside theordination of women, as a factor in rejecting the Episcopal Church.[61][62] In one case, anAntiochian Western Rite Vicariate parish was created from an Episcopal congregation that had rejected the 1979 prayer book.[63][64] Within the Episcopal Church, rejection of the 1979 prayer book has been considered a major source ofschism.[32]: 172
Following the permission of Anglican clergy and laity to enter into the Catholic Church whilst retaining aspects of their patrimony, the 1979 prayer book was consulted in preparation of ritual books for the newAnglican Use Catholic liturgy. The 1979Book of Common Prayer largely inspiredThe Book of Divine Worship of 1983, which mirrored the 1979 prayer book with its own two-rite format but replaced the Anglican Eucharistic prayer with theRoman Canon.[65][66]The Book of Divine Worship was used through the establishment of thepersonal ordinariates until 2015 when it was replaced byDivine Worship: The Missal for use in the Mass.[67] The 1979 prayer book was also utilized in the production of the 2019 personal ordinariatedevotional book, theSt. Gregory's Prayer Book.[68]
The 2019 edition of theAnglican Church of North America'sBook of Common Prayer includes a preface byRobert Duncan andFoley Beach, the denomination's first and secondprimates, who disapprovingly noted the influence of the Liturgical Movement on the 1979 prayer book. The preface criticized the 1979 prayer book, alongside other Anglican prayer books of the same period, as "more revolutionary than evolutionary in character" relative to the 1662 edition. It also questioned the theology of the 20th-century prayer books' Eucharistic and baptism offices.[4]: 4
Historian ofliturgy andGreek CatholicismRobert F. Taft,S.J., approved of the 1979 prayer book's "flexibility" and praised it for its restoration of "cathedral elements to evening prayer" but criticized what he viewed as a weakening ofLauds within Morning Prayer.[43]: 324–326
In 1988,Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil produced aPortuguese-language prayer book based on the 1979 U.S. prayer book. This follows a tradition of similar translations of U.S. Episcopal Church prayer books being used by Anglicans inBrazil dating to at least 1860.[69]
At the 2018 General Convention, a resolution was passed to create the Task Force on Liturgical and Prayer Book Revision. The charge of this group was to "engage worshiping communities in experimentation and the creation of alternative texts" to incorporate moreinclusive language and provide a greater focus on the care of God'screation. It also suggested that the Task Force take into consideration new technological means of disseminating the prayer book and to conduct its business in the major languages of The Episcopal Church: English,Spanish,French, andHaitian Creole.[70][71] Additionally, the task force sought the "creation of alternative texts" by "worshiping communities" to be submitted for review in 2020, with six approved to be further reviewed by the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music.[72]
The 2021Reports to the 80th General Convention included reflections from the task force, noting both their continued work onThe Book of Occasional Services following the approval of its 2018 edition and progress on prayer book revision. Among these, the task force emphasized the importance of expansive language in for the "principal liturgies (Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist, Liturgies of the Word, the Psalter)."[73]: 641 At the 2022 80th General Convention inBaltimore, a measure that altered the definition of theBook of Common Prayer was adopted, enabling liturgies approved after 1979—such as matrimonial offices for same-sex weddings—to be potentially granted "prayer book status" prior to any full prayer book revision including them.[74]
At the time of the 1979 prayer book's initial approval,The Hymnal 1940 was the standard liturgicalhymnal of the Episcopal Church. Many of the 801hymns withinThe Hymnal 1940 in its 1961 edition intentionally came from anecumenically-broad assortment of Protestant, Greek, and Latin sources.[75] However, the introduction of the two-rite system into the primary liturgies necessitated an even greater expansion in the variety of the hymn selection available. This was accomplished through the publication ofThe Hymnal 1982.[32]: 172 Published in 1985, the hymnal contains 720 hymns of multiple traditions organized for usage with specific liturgies as well as under specific thematic categories.[76] Canon 24, Section I of the Episcopal Church–included in the front of each copy ofThe Hymnal 1982–states that it is "the duty of every Minister to see that music is used as an offering to the glory of God." Among the further aims of the 1982 hymnal were to improve ecumenical relations and "restore music which had lost some of its melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic vitality through prior revision.[77]
Concurrent with the adoption of the 1979 prayer book, the 1979 General Convention approved the usage ofThe Book of Occasional Services (BOS) as an "optional" supplement containing the liturgies not present in the standard prayer book.[78] Similar texts had been approved to supplement prior editions of the Episcopal prayer book, including the 1914A Book of Offices–the use of which required discretionary approval from the local bishop–and the 1937The Book of Offices, which was revised in 1949 and 1960.[79][80][81] The BOS has been revised several times, including new editions in 1991, 1994, 2003, and 2018.[82][83] In the 2018 edition, services for theFeast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, theWay of the Cross, and twoLessons and Carols were added.[83]: 1
Approved in 1997,Enriching Our Worship 1 was first published in 1998 as a liturgical supplement in Rite II and non-masculine language. It followed the 1991 and 1996 editions ofSupplemental Liturgical Materials, and was intended as a further expansion on the texts made available for discretionary usage within those previous publications.[84]: 8 [85] Influenced byChristian feminism, the prayers and liturgies contained were drawn from a number of sources, including the CatholicInternational Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) 1994 translation of the Psalter andCanticles, theChurch of Ireland's 1984An Alternative Prayer Book, and theAnglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia's 1989A New Zealand Prayer Book.[84]: 9–10
Enriching Our Worship 5, published in 2009, largely pertains to prayers relevant topregnancy andchildbirth. Also contained is the Rite of Repentance and Reconciliation for an Abortion, for women "carrying unresolved guilt over anabortion." The essay preceding the liturgy acknowledges the Episcopal Church's support for legalized abortion.[86]
The standard 1979 prayer book prescribes the Daily Office lection cycle for Scripture, though does not include the verses themselves. To provide these readings in the order they are read during the lection cycle, the four-volumeDaily Office Readings (DOR) was published in 1984. The readings are divided into two years, with the DOR divided into two volumes for each year, and uses the same Revised Standard Version translation of the 1979 prayer book's included Scriptural texts.[87][88]
The 1979 prayer book includes instructions permitting the inclusion of readings "from non-biblical Christian literature" following readings from Scripture.[15]: 142 While this rubric does not explicitly contain these non-biblical readings topatristic texts, these and other pre-Reformation texts have traditionally been given precedence in Daily Office recitation.[89]: vii TheReadings for the Daily Office from the Early Church was published by the Episcopal Church to provide approved pre-Sixteenth Century texts for Daily Office recitation. Many of the texts taken and retranslated from the ICEL work onOffice of Readings for the 1975 English translation of theLiturgy of the Hours (the post-Second Vatican Council Catholic daily office) from the 1971 Latin version.[89]: 515 Due to the 1979 prayer book lectionary's similarity to that of the Anglican Church of Canada's 1985Book of Alternative Services and theinterdenominational 1978Lutheran Book of Worship, there was hope for ecumenical usage of theReadings for the Daily Office from the Early Church.[89]: vii
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